For builders, the future is always intrinsically connected to what you are doing right this minute. When it comes to marketing, it is really like a trifecta.  Trifecta?  Is that a word? Sort of. You see language, like your marketing, is an ever evolving thing. The word trifecta came about in the 1970s as an offshoot of perfecta.  But trifecta is usually used in gambling. Gambling is exactly what marketing is all about, only with better odds.  When you do your marketing, you want a return.  A trifecta is a type of bet [usually on horse races] in which you, the bettor, must select the FIRST 3 finishers in EXACT order.  So, here is the builder’s trifecta, or the 3 finishers in your marketing package.  Here is my bet on the winning strategy for your marketing efforts. 

FIRST:
Web sites are QUEEN, and the content and functionality of the site is KING. Content is KING.  Make no mistake.  There is a qualified return on investment for getting a blow away web site, with great graphics, images, information, and at least comprehensive functionality, if you can’t stretch the dollar for extraordinary functionality. Builder Beware: Just like specs, building it does not make them just come to it. Talk to a couple of companies that specialize in this market. Just because someone understands HTML coding is not enough for builders. Knowing your industry is crucial. There are numerous companies, but some include Blue Tangerine Solutions in Florida, Builder Designs.com in Kansas, NDG Communications in DC. Their location is irrelevant, but you must have great 2 way communication and “connect” with them. They must be able to show you great work they have done, IN your industry. A great web site is investment money well spent. 

SECOND:
Get leads or die. Not to be melodramatic, every builder knows this, but it is the critical placement of this as number 2 that makes you the winner. Many builders pay good money for leads that come to a junky web site and disengage. Or builders pay money to get leads that don’t get followed up on. I cringe at what a poor job of lead follow up builders do. In my own sales efforts, I shop a builder and usually get little to no response or not a sophisticated response.  Builders disqualify themselves.  Regardless of doing a better job on those, you still must get leads. You can get leads through many ways, including, SEO (search engine optimization), PPC (pay per click) and pushing leads to your web site with companies like New Homes Directory or getting your inventory listed everywhere on the web through 3^rd party lead generation companies like New Home Source. 

THIRD:
And the winner is…the builder who has the ability, and the process, for sales people to actually follow up with all leads, non stop, long term, with targeted marketing messages.I don’t know any builder successful at this in these days that does not leverage technology and software in some way. Whether it is BuildTopia or not, the point is you must have some automation to help your sales team. If you are not investing in your sales team and sales processes, you are falsely investing in your company. If your company has an owner, sales manager, sales person, or online sales counselor that just throws out standard responses to all leads, you are not among the cream of the crop. The marketing you do to each lead must be targeted in many ways, not just what neighborhood they are interested in, but also based on where the lead came from, buying intentions, any demographics you have, and much more. Doing that by “hand” is putting your company at risk. Lots of builders have some process or some basic system, but you must have a great sales system, and, it has to be in place, before you go get number 1 and number 2. Carol Flammer, mRelevance and Mike Lyon are getting very well known for consulting with this, and other things like social media (facebook, myspace, twitter) and bringing builders where they could not have gone alone. Focus on these three elements, have them in place in this order, and you will see a winning ticket to profitability. Marketing is gambling, and if done correctly, there is better than average odds of a payoff.  But business is both art and science, to a degree. 

Erik Cofield, CGA has leveraged technology and provided business management consulting for all sizes and types of builders, developers and Remodelers since 2000, including volume, multi-family and custom, to help them improve their business. He is a VP with BuildTopia (www.buildtopia.com), a widely used international construction management software company.  He can be reached via ecofield@buildtopia.com.